Blackmail
by SugarTea
Summary: As much as Elli would love to parade around the entire town exposing Gill's deep dark secret, the issue of her paycheck comes to mind; seeing as she can't very well get one without a job.


**Author's Notes: One of my earlier stories that I deleted and re-posted with some changes.**

Elli did her best to try and sink into her fluffy brown coat as the fall winds nipped at her face, carrying with them a hint of winter's chill. She listened to her own light, rhythmic steps as her leather shoes made contact with the cobblestone path that lead her to Town Hall; the building where she did her daily job of playing secretary/assistant.

_Gill is such a slave driver… _thought Elli with a sigh. _Even when there's nothing to do, he still makes me trudge through the snow and the hail just so I can sit around and pretend to work._

Despite being a generally gentle young lady, the Elli couldn't help but feel just a tad bitter towards the end of autumn. Winter was by far her least favorite season, for it was always accompanied by fierce flus' and harsh weather, which made walking to work generally unpleasant.

Her face warmed up with glee when she finally arrived in the Square with Town Hall in sight. She could already imagine herself nice and toasty inside.

She stepped up to the doubled doors as she prepared a cheerful smile. She placed her hand on the doorknob.

Time seemed to slow down.

As Elli opened the door, a particularly strong gust of wind rushed in from behind her. And then, a most appalling event occurred. For you see, as Elli opened the door and the gust of wind flew past her, Gill's hair slowly slipped to the side.

Elli could barley register what just happened before Gill ran his fingers across his head, straightening each strand in a matter of nanoseconds. Elli just stood there and stared, her emotions somewhere between shock and horror.

_Oh my gosh! Gill's hair! I-It's a wig! _She screamed in her head. _How could this be?! Those beautiful golden locks that I admired so are _fake_!_

"Elli, will you kindly shut the door and actually do your job for once?" Gill demanded coldly. Elli didn't even notice the insult as she slowly made her way towards her desk; never once taking her eyes off of Gill's head.

Sucking in her breath in an attempt to compose herself, she elegantly smoothed out the wrinkles from her blue dress and took a seat at her desk.

_Well, it's none of my business… _she thought almost sadly as she shuffled the papers scattered around her desk. In all honesty, she would love nothing more than to parade around town exposing her boss's deepest secrets; however, the matter of her paycheck comes to mind during these fantasies, seeing as she can't very well get one without a job.

And thus, she spent the rest of the morning in silence, making sure not to disturb Gill. After all, she was already on thin ice with him.

The hours ticked by uneventfully, with Elli making stacks of papers for Gill to sign. She almost forgot about the "incident".

Almost.

"Hey everyone!" Luke greeted energetically as he practically broke down the doors as he entered. Gill twitched, and promptly ignored him. Elli on the other had greeted him with a warm smile.

"Hello, Luke! What can I do for you today?"

Luke smiled at Elli and walked up to her desk.

"I was hoping you could make an announcement. We're having a sale on firewood since winter is coming up. It's going to be through the 1st and 5th," he explained. Elli nodded and jotted down the information.

"Is that all for you today?"

Luke nodded before his golden eyes glanced back behind Elli.

"What's up with Gill? He's been in a worse mood than usual…" Luke said in a low voice. Elli looked back to make sure that Gill wasn't paying attention. As per usual, he was completely absorbed in his work.

_Okay… I have to make sure _not _to mention his little… erm… 'problem'… _Elli thought with determination.

"Oh well, you know… I suppose he's just worried about his hairline… I-I mean deadline!" Elli corrected hastily. Luke raised an eyebrow as Elli flustered about.

"B-but if you ever need set up an appointment with him, he could just be bald! I meant _called_! CALLED!"

Elli's face was as red as a tomato as she waved her hands around in distress. Luke just shook his head.

"Elli, you _really _need a vacation…" he said before making his exit. Elli let out a shaky breath.

_I've got to pull myself together…_ she thought desperately. In her distress, she accidently stepped onto the bottom of her long blue dress, resulting in her gracefully landing on top of Gill's desk.

"_Elli!_" Gill screeched as his papers went flying.

"S-sorry!" Elli squeaked as she attempted to collect the papers on the floor. "I really _do _need a vacation…" she sighed.

This comment was _supposed_ to herself.

"Absolutely _not_!" cut in the harsh and irritated voice of Gill. "You barley do any work as it is!" he muttered as he snatched the papers away from her.

Elli blinked as she watched Gill stomp upstairs to the library.

"H-how dare he!" she squeaked in rage after Gill was long out of hearing-range. "After all the work I've done for him!"

She grabbed a random piece of paper from the desk, and angrily flung it at the trash bin, missing it completely. A dark aura began surrounding her.

"He will rue the day that…"

"Elli! Will you kindly throw away your garbage!" Gill ordered obliviously as he came back down carrying a stack of books. Elli's anger vanished as her arms hung limply against her sides.

"Yes, sir," she mumbled dejectedly as she walked over to pick her trash up.

_You just wait and see Gill… You _will _pay_.

"Uhhh… Elli? I'm not sure this is such a good idea…" Bo said shakily as he looked down from the tree branch he was standing on.

"Please Bo? Do it for me? You know what it's like to be used don't you? To always be the one who gets stuck with doing the worst part of the job, and yet the person above you gets all credit?" Elli pleaded from the roof of Town Hall.

Bo hesitated as an image of Luke flashed through his mind.

"Y-Yeah, I know what it feels like… But isn't this a bit _extreme_?!" Bo yelped the last part as Elli finally just grabbed his arm and pulled the younger boy up in one swift motion.

"See? Now that wasn't so bad!" Elli said cheerfully as Bo did his best to keep his breakfast down.

"Why are we even doing this? Don't you have a key?" he murmured as he crouched down next to a trap door that would lead them to the Town Hall's attic. Elli looked at him patiently.

"Yes, but we need to be stealthy about getting proof of his… problem…" she explained. Bo simply took out his hammer and managed to get the trap door open with the claw.

"You mean _you_ need to be stealthy about getting proof. Sorry Elli, this is as far as I go," Bo said with determination. Elli sighed and nodded. She figured as much.

Climbing into the door, she saluted Bo before disappearing.

_Ugh… It's so dirty up here! I really need to clean this place out one day…_ Elli mused to herself as she tried to make her body as small as possible to avoid touching anything. She peeked through the floorboards down at the library in hopes of finding her pale-haired boss.

The wood creaked all around her with each step, but she managed to make her way to above the classroom where Gill was erasing the board from a previous lesson.

_This is my chance!_ Elli thought eagerly as she got her camera ready. _He didn't even notice me on my way here!_

Elli felt a strange tickle-like sensation near the side of her leg. She ignored it and gave a little shake of her leg to make it go away. However, when she felt something _furry_…

"_**RAT! **_Oh my goddess, a _**rat**_!" she shrieked, completely forgetting about Gill and the importance of being silent. She kicked and screamed until the aged wood simply collapsed under her weight.

Elli was in total and utter confusion. Her head hurt, and she was staring at a giant hole in the wall… or was that the ceiling?

"**What in the**-..._Elli?_ Elli! Elli, are you alright?!"

The hole was obstructed from view by the concerned features of none other than Gill himself. Elli groaned.

"Elli, please speak to me!"

Elli blushed at Gill's concern. This was the first time he had ever shown any sort of emotion towards her. (Well, other than patronizing hate.)

"I-I'm fine Gill… I just hit my head a little. Nothing an ice-pack won't cure," she said with a smile as Gill helped her up.

"Thank goddess," Gill said with relief. "If you took any more days off, I think I'd need to fire you."

That last statement reminded Elli why exactly she was here in the first place.

"Gill!" she pointed at the Mayor's son dramatically. "Don't try and hide it! I know what you're dirty little secret is! You're hair is a wig! And I'll expose it to the entire town if you don't start treating me with more respect!"

Gill stared at here in shock.

"Elli… Are you trying to _blackmail _me?!"

Elli nodded proudly. Gill sighed.

"Let me get this straight. You think that my hair is a wig, so you were planning to spy on me so you can somehow get proof. You were then going to use this proof as a weapon to get me to bend to your every whim, or else you would threaten to show it to the entire town," Gill said calmly. Elli nodded, but this time without pride. The way Gill said it made her plan sound extremely ridiculous.

"And even if it _was _a wig," he continued, "It still wouldn't change the fact that I'm your boss."

Elli sighed in defeat.

"I assume I'll be doing a double shift?"

"You assume correctly."

Elli walked into the utility closet to grab a broom.

**THE END…**

Later that evening, Gill looked at himself in the large vanity mirror as he carefully brushed his hair. He then sighed in satisfaction.

"I can't believe she gave in so easily," he said slightly amused as he took off his hair and placed it on a mannequin head resembling his own. He smiled at his reflection and his completely bald, shiny head.

"As if hair _that_ perfect could possibly be real."


End file.
